Empty handed after two Sarawak elections, PAS claims that it can be third time successful this time round.

The party realises that it does not have enough support among Muslims, who make up 26 percent of the Sarawak population, to win its first seat in the state, and is thus also wooing disgruntled non-Muslims.

State PAS chief Adam Ahid claims a "mood change" among both Muslim and non-Muslim voters that is benefitting his party.

"In Beting Maro in the last election, for example, there was only one longhouse supporting us. Now, we already have three longhouses expressing their support for us," he said.

Beting Maro, a Malay heartland constituency in Sri Aman, is one of the five seats to be contested by PAS, which spread its wings to Sarawak in 1996.

The other four are Sebuyau, Sadong Jaya, Muara Tuang and Tanjung Datu.

Adam said that PAS had set up a ‘dewan himpunan’ (assembly hall) in Miri to reach out to urban voters, both Muslims and non-Muslims.

When courting the Ibans, he said, PAS touched on native customary rights land, which is an issue close to their hearts.

Adam said the party would put up credible candidates with a professional background.

"We do not want to be over-confident, but we are working towards producing what we term ‘Anak Sulung PAS’ (the first born of PAS in Sarawak)," he said.

Analyst: PAS seen as an extremist party

Political analysts, however, dismiss any possibility of PAS making its way to the state assembly.

According to a Sarawak Universiti Malaysia Sarawak lecturer, Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi, the ground is "rough" for PAS due to the religious, cultural and ethnical mosaic of the population.

"The people still find it hard to accept an Islamic state ideology, and PAS is perceived as an extremist party," he said.

Awang Azman said that PAS had been compared to the Muslim Brotherhood in Eygpt, regarded as the world's most influential Islamist movement, and this had scared many people.

"The other factor is that the bumiputeras, both Muslims and non-Muslims, are more comfortable with PBB than the peninsula-based PAS," he said.

"Muslim bumiputeras are a minority in the state, but their achievements in education and the economic field are quite significant, and the people appreciate this," he added.

- Bernama